Bryan, Beverley A.
Author Affiliation, Ana.
Department of Educational Studies
Defining literacy for Jamaica: Issues in theory and practice
Caribbean Journal of Education
Date of Publication
Jamaica has recently refocused its energies on literacy. The introduction of a grade 4 literacy test which children must pass in order to move on to the next grade has raised the tempo of the debate. Jamaican response to the literacy concens has been twofold. One strategy of the government has been to continue initiating and supporting donor-assisted literacy projects. The other, more recent response was to commission a study on the background of literacy development in Jamaica. The paper looks at several of the central debates that surfaced during the consultations for the plan of Action. It focuses on the issues by examining the definition produced and consider its implications for language and literacy teaching in our creole speaking environment. This will involve: (1) re-examining the definition produced to clarify its underlying meanings; (2) relating the definition to the role of the mother tongue in literacy acquisition; and (3) redefining the role of the teacher who negotiates language and literacy acquisition.....